It used to be that GPUs would sacrifice accuracy for speed in floating point calculations, making them unsuitable for scientific computing. Is this still the case?

I've found Fossil extremely easy to use as an individual programmer... it incorporates wiki, issue tracking, and version control through a simple interface, the server software is a single executable and runs on the client with no setup required, and it is free. When you begin working in larger teams, the model is distributed version control. Its pretty slick.

What I want to know is can we hire them for the 4th of july?

I don't think life on Mars precludes the notion that they came from a common ancestor... Martian or Earth originated meteors could crash into their counterparts, transporting life between them. The "fluke" part would still be a possibility in this case.

I use password safe, where I keep the encrypted password data file on a thumb drive, and backed up on my home computer. The program helps you organize passwords with categories, one click copy-paste to the clipboard (and clears the clipboard when the program is minimized or closed), and auto-generation based on a specified password policy.

Typically, to lose one pound, you must consume 3400 less calories than you metabolize, which means these people did about 300 calories of extra exercise a day. To put that in prospective, here is a list of activities that would burn an additional 200 calories, so these people were probably doing about 45 minutes of jogging equivalent daily. The fact is, your resting metabolism is already quite high, as your body must maintain its temperature at a toasty 98 degrees; exercise only marginally improves on that.

On the other hand, losing 200 calories by dieting can drastically move that number from the low hundreds to even thousands a day for obese people. Here is what 200 calories of food would look like... it almost doesn't seem fair that you would have to run for a half hour just to burn off a can of soda.

You want to lose weight? Try controlling portions to what the box recommends as a single serving. You'll quickly learn to value foods that satisfy a high fullness/calorie ratio, things like vegetables, soups, salads that fill you up faster. Also, track what you stuff in your mouth, it really helps keep you accountable.

NASA and Russia have already launched "nuclear powered spacecraft", typically using a Radioisotope thermoelectric generator. Its needed if you are gonna send a satellite where the sun don't shine. Take Cassini, or the Voyager probes for instance. The difference as I understand it is they would use the electricity to power a high specific impulse low thrust engine, such as an ion thruster.

We've looked to people's personal letters and diaries in the past to gain incite on how they viewed the events of their days. Even in this modern era of information, how much of this window will be lost to future generations, as people are able to better control access to their personal material? I doubt my email will be as accessible as my great grandfathers letters in a hundred years. Apparently, my facebook page will be gone as well. I'm not saying its a bad thing, I for one value that I can keep personal correspondence private. I just wonder how future generations will view it.

Also, did you know that 90% of statistics are made up on the spot? Of course, the difference between this post and yours is I'm gonna include a source. No offense, but if you are gonna make outlandish claims about the opinions of people in the US, please provide something to back it up.

Take for instance casinos, where there is a ton of loose money and a ton of CCTV. It seems to help prevent crimes in a controlled environment pretty well (Ocean's 11 aside). I suspect that CCTV could be a much more effective crime prevention/detection tool if properly utilized. And, obviously as many others have posted... is it really worth it to accept Big Brother watching your back?

I Cracked my iPhone the first time I dropped it, 30 seconds flat. But if you read the fine print, it turns out Apples warranty doesn't cover the screen.

Another alternative that I like is Fossil, which is about as easy as it gets to use, and comes with a wiki and bug tracking built in.

But we can ask ourselves if this little dance has benefited the consumer, and in that regard, I'd have to argue that we have better web browsers, better search tools, better web-email accounts, and yes even better operating systems (more MS vs Apple than MS vs Google... and by better OS, I of course mean Windows 7). So to Microsoft and Google, I say have at it!

The more "harmless" wars start to look, the easier it will be for politicians to convince the public to go to war.

One could argue that the opposite has been seen over the past century, as mobilization of antiwar sentiment happens earlier and earlier over the course of progressively less costly wars (in terms of American casualties). I would argue that the effects of mass media far out-trump an effective military when it comes to gaining popular support.